J.M. Giovine's Reviews > Star Wars: Tales from Jabba's Palace

A compilation (as the title suggests) of several stories taking place in Jabba's Palace, more specifically during the first act of 'Return of the Jedi', before, during, and after Luke's rescue of Han Solo, and Princess Leia. To be more specific, these tales are told from the perspective of some of Jabba's courtship, some allies, some conspirers against him, but for the most part, creatures who appeared in the movie, in some occasions briefly. From the Rancor's Keeper, to Jabba's dancers and Bounty Hunters, these storie's main purpose is to fill certain gaps, and to clarify the whereabouts of some of these characters, since most would assume, after seen Episode VI, that the entire court of Jabba died after Luke's rescue, but in a surprising turn of events, many of the characters seen in this scenario actually made it out alive, either by random circumstances, or because of elaborated plots conceived in order to take down Jabba, ultimately adding certain weight to Luke's rescue, and how certain people closed to Jabba contributed to his demise, which some fans might find a little anti-climatic, and disrespectful to the movie, but I personally managed to find certain funny moments, and some interesting insight that would lead to this exciting point in the film. Several writers participated in it, and honestly, everyone did a fantastic job with their respective shorts. Perhaps the least engaging ones were the first ones, more specifically 'That's Entertainment: The Tale of Salacious Crumb', and 'Taster's Choice: The Tale of Jabba's Chef's, written by Esther M. Freisner, and Barbara Hambly respectively, and the weirdest one I'd say was 'Out of the Closet: The Assassin's Tale' by Jennifer Roberson, which is the tale of Dannik Jerriko, a bounty hunter who actually first appeared in 'Episode IV: A New Hope's, but here is revealed as a "vampire" who consumes the brain matter of his victims, referred by him as "soup of life", and the way the short is narrated is entirely with his point of view, which makes for an interesting reading that differs from the typical narrative style of the previous and further stories. Perhaps the most stand out ones were the ones about Boba Fett, and even Mara Jade (Retcon as to be present during Luke's arrival to Jabba's Palace), but curiously, two of the most interesting ones were 'A Time to Mourn, a Time to Dance: Oola's Tale'', which is the story of the Twi'lek dancer who Jabba kills after throwing her to the rancor, written by Kathy Tyers, and centers on Oola and her sister and the story behind their imprisonment at the palace, which makes for an interesting ride since we get to know that she encountered Luke before the Episode even started, and makes for a more tragic context after her demise. Also, the last one, 'Skin Deep: The Fat Dancer's Tale', by A.C. Crispin, resulted way better than I could've expected, using a lesser known character to actually give her one of the most engaging and emotional stories in the lot, and one that even has a Krayt Dragon in it, I definitely did not see it coming. There's no doubt, my favorite tale was the tale of Boba Fett, written by J.D. Montgomery, since it explains what happens after he got swallowed by the Sarlacc, and even there's a nice tie-in with the novel 'Shadows of the Empire' at the very start, but the way Montgomery depicts the interiors of the creature, and the way it traps it's victim's consciousness after a thousand years of digestion adds a creepyness and creative system of functionality that seems quite interesting, following with his escape. Perhaps my biggest complain with this anthology was the absence of a Jabba story, perhaps narrated from his POV, or even as a third person. It seemed strange in an anthology dedicated to a scenario related directly to his, but even if he was present in a major way in each tale, a short written about him solely was needed. Other than that, this was a fun and insightful read, mostly to get a little more context on certain mechanics and back stories related to this specific moment in time in the Star Wars saga. Plenty of talent was gathered in here, and the amount of characters depicted was fairly extensive, but never tiresome. An entertaining reading, and a suitable companion for both, 'Return of the Jedi', and 'Shadows of the Empire' alike.